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Are we taking AI seriously enough? May 5, 2014http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence [image: MQ-9 Reaper unmanned combat air vehicle (credit: General Atomics)]“Dismissing the notion of highly intelligent machines as mere science fiction,” as portrayed in current movies, would be a mistake, and “potentially our worst mistake in history,” write leading scientists Stephen Hawking, Stuart Russell, Max Tegmark, and Frank Wilczek, in The Independent. AI research is now progressing rapidly, and “will probably pale against what the coming … more… [image: (Credit: IBM)] “Can a...mais »

Want to live to 90?May 5, 2014[image: (Credit: CBS)] *One of the biggest surprises so far in the study is that 40 percent of the time, what seemed to be Alzheimer’s disease in people over 90 actually wasn’t. The researchers learned this by studying the brains of the subjects after death; many showed evidence of microscopic strokes. Kawas says she hasn’t yet figured out what caused the strokes, so she can’t say how to prevent them. She tells Stahl, “I wish I did. But I will soon, I hope.”* A landmark study of retirement community residents who lived past 90 is providing a guide that co...mais »

Bone marrow-on-a-chip unveiledMay 6, 2014 *[+]* Microscopic view of the engineered bone with an opening exposing the internal trabecular bony network, overlaid with colored images of blood cells and a supportive vascular network that fill the open spaces in the bone marrow-on-a-chip (credit: James Weaver/Harvard’s Wyss Institute) A new organ-on-a-chip developed by researchers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering reproduces the structure, functions, and cellular make-up of bone marrow, a complex tissue that until now could only be studied intact in living...mais »

Stem cells from teeth can make neuron-like cells and networks May 6, 2014 [image: mouse-derived dental pulp stem cell] University of Adelaide researchers have discovered that stem cells taken from teeth can grow to form complex networks of neuron-like cells, suggesting a possible therapy for stroke. Although these cells haven’t developed into fully fledged neurons, researchers believe it’s just a matter of time and the right conditions for it to happen. “Stem cells from … more…

Astronomers create first realistic virtual universe May 8, 2014*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjSFR40SY58#t=59* [image: illustris-simulation] Astronomers have created the first realistic virtual universe using a computer simulation called “Illustris.” Illustris can recreate 13 billion years of cosmic evolution in a cube 350 million light-years on a side with unprecedented resolution. “Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce the universe on both large and small scales simultaneously,” says lead … more…

Brain ‘noise’ found to nurture synapsesMay 8, 2014 [image: McCabe-CUMC-image-brain-noise] A developing Drosophila synapse superimposed over electrophysiology recordings of minis (credit: Lab of Brian McCabe, PhD/ Columbia University Medical Center) A long-overlooked form of neuron-to-neuron communication called “miniature neurotransmission” plays an essential role in the development of synapses, a study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has shown. The findings, made in fruit flies, raise the possibility that abnormalities in miniature neurotransmission may co...mais »

GaitTrack app makes cellphone a medical monitor for heart and lung patients May 9, 2014 [image: (Credit: University of Illinois)] By simply carrying around their cellphones, patients who suffer from chronic disease could soon have an accurate health monitor that warns their doctors when their symptoms worsen. GaitTrack, an app developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the U. of I. at Chicago, doesn’t just count steps. It uses eight parameters … more…

Scientists create new lifeform with added DNA base pair May 9, 2014 [image: (Credit: iStock)] Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes an added pair of DNA “letters” (bases) not found in nature. The research was intended to created new proteins — and even new organisms — that have never existed before. “Life on Earth in all its diversity is encoded by …more…

[image: One Billion People Still Defecate Outdoors] One Billion People Still Defecate Outdoors One billion people worldwide still practise "open defecation" and they need to be told that this leads to the spread of fatal diseases, U.N. experts said on Thursday at the launch of a study on drinking water and sanitation. [image: t][image: f]Continue reading

Inflammation Reduced with Behavioral Training Subjects were taught to suppress their immune responses using physical conditioning May 6, 2014 |By Heidi Ledford and Nature magazine [image: people can learn to modulate immune response] The results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that people can learn to modulate their immune responses — a finding that has raised hopes for patients who have chronic inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis andinflammatory bowel disease. *Credit: Thinkstock* Dutch celebrity daredevil Wim Hof has endured...mais »

*Há mais de 20 anos a AMICOR Maria Inês Reinert Azambuja já havia desvendado este mistério...*Mystery of the pandemic flu virus of 1918 solved [image: Mystery of the pandemic flu virus of 1918 solved by University of Arizona researchers]Enlarge This is from an emergency hospital during the influenza epidemic, Camp Funston, Kan. Credit: Otis Historical Archives Nat'l Museum of Health & Medicine A study led by Michael Worobey at the University of Arizona in Tucson provides the most conclusive answers yet to two of the world's foremost biomedical mysteries of the past century: the origin...mais »

Therapy of Hepatitis C — Back to the Future T. Jake Liang, M.D., and Marc G. Ghany, M.D., M.H.Sc. May 4, 2014DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe1403619 ArticleReferences A book on hepatitis C would read like a marriage of an Orson Welles mystery and a Shakespearean play — awash in enigma, tragedy, despair, resilience, redemption, and triumph. It is only fitting that treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection stands at center stage of such a book. After the initial introduction of interferon alfa as the mainstay of therapy, the field stalled for more than 10 years. Although the introduction of rib...mais »